Lot 22
Military Cross for Waziristan 1920
Clandestine Operations - Inc The D.J. Croll Medal Collection & Other Properties | M26002
Auction: 16 September 2026 at 10.30 BST
Description
The Immediate Waziristan Military Cross Group awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel Naval Maneckji Pestonji Dotivala, Indian Medical Service, attached 2nd/5th Gurkhas who “displayed the greatest gallantry and disregard for danger in his care of the wounded during this action” comprising: Military Cross, George V; unnamed as issued, 1914-1920 British War and Victory Medals, erased naming, India General Service Medal, 1908-1935, three clasps, Afghanistan N. W. F. 1919, Waziristan 1919-21, Mahsud 1919-20 (Capt. N. M. P. Dotivala. I. M. S.), General Service Medal, 1918-1962, George V, single clasp, Iraq, (Capt. N.M. Dotivala. I.M.S.), 1939-45 War Medal, unnamed as issued, India Service Medal, unnamed as issued, Jubilee Medal 1935; Coronation Medal 1937, group court mounted with pin for wear, sold in original custom made box by 'Rankin & Co. Ltd. – India', group lightly polished, toned, good very fine (9)
Military Cross The Gazette of India 30th of October 1920
'T-Capt. Naval Maneckji Pestonji Dotivala, IMS., attd. 2-5th Gurkha Rif., Ind. Army' 'For most conspicuous gallantry in action at Sorarogha on 18th of January 1920, and at Makin on the 20th of February 1920. On both occasions he displayed the greatest gallantry and disregard for danger in his care of the wounded during this action. He set a very fine example to all.'
MC Gazette of India, 29.10.1920
Naval Maneckji Pestonji Dotivala was born on the 20th of September 1917, in Bombay, and after studying to work in medicine, he joined the Indian Medical Service, receiving his first commission on the 23rd of July, 1917.
With the Indian Army largely occupied with operations in Europe during the Great War, the tribes of Southern Afghanistan (particularly the Tochi Wazirs and the Mahsud) launched a series of raids into Northern India along the North West Frontier into the region of Waziristan in 1917, as part of the so-called 'Waziristan Revolt'. This revolt was said to have been caused by a rumour that the areas of North and South Waziristan were to be given to Afghanistan as part of a peace settlement from the Third Afghan War.
A punitive response from the British and Colonial Forces was demanded, and an attempt was made to subdue the tribes in late November 1919, led by Major General Sir Andrew Skeen. These were largely successful, although conditions were difficult, and the British and Indian forces received considerable resistance from the Mahsud tribe in particular. Having defeated a Mahsud force at Palosina, the tribesmen withdrew north to a defensive line in the gorge of Ahnai Tangi. It was here, attacking from the Soraraogha Plain, that the 2/5 (Frontier Force) Gurkhas launched an eight-day attack upon a reported 4,000 tribesmen, eventually running out of ammunition and resorting to bayonet charges to defeat the remaining enemies. Casualties were heavy, with both sides suffering losses of around 400 men killed and wounded. Following further defeats in the area of Makin, and the able assistance of the RAF, the tribes agreed to peace. It was during this offensive, as medical attaché to the 2/5 Gurkhas, that T. Captain Naval Dotivala was awarded the MC:
Naval Dotivala enjoyed a long and successful career in the IMS, and his service reports speak well of his work. One particular report from 1936 states:
'There has been a very marked reduction in the sick rate at Aurangabad during the period Major Dotivala has been here. The prompt measures he adopted to deal with a very severe epidemic of cholera which occurred in the immediate surrounding area of the cantonment checked the spread of the epidemic into the cantonment. He is reliable and energetic and gets on well with the other branches of the service. I had a very good report of him after the Parade Manoeuvres when he acted as SMO of the force. I consider him fit for promotion in every way.'
Sold with copy MIC, copy citation from the Gazette of India, a number of copied report pages relating to his service in the IMS, and a full printed version of the events in Waziristan 1919-20 taken from the London Gazette.
Provenance Baldwin's Auction 2010
